Sunday, March 16, 2008

But How Will They See Their Pareidolia Now?

I found this the other day through This Modern World (via Greg Saunders), and it astounded me. A few days later, my brain is quite literally racked with an intense agony trying to comprehend the mindset of these people.

KOTTAYAM, India, March 11 (UPI) -- Reports in India of a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary in the sky have led about 50 people to blind themselves by staring at the sun. (link)

I...quite honestly have no idea what to say to that...I mean, do you think they started to catch on once the first few people went blind? Part of me doesn't want to admit that they may have even wanted to go blind, because martyrdom is cool. Religion is a scary thing, folks.

I love how even the news report calls the image "miraculous". If you read the rest of the article, you'll see that local congregations have denied that this is a miracle and retaught them that staring at the sun is no bueno. I have to wonder if they denied the "miraculous" aspect of this specifically to prevent people from going blind.

You may think I'm a little harsh on religion. Let me assure you, it is because of shit like this.